Peninsula pot growers leave behind four tons of trash, police say

REDWOOD CITY -- Authorities seized 8,100 marijuana plants and carted off about four tons of garbage away from illicit pot growing operations in San Mateo County's coastal mountains, police said Tuesday.

As part of an annual marijuana destruction campaign, authorities used helicopters to carry out the plants and trash between late August and early September. The approximately dozen marijuana patches had an estimated street value of $28.4 million, said the head of San Mateo County's drug task force Lt. John Munsey.

In addition to food waste, propane tanks, camping gear and thousands of feet of plastic irrigation tubing, agents also found fertilizer, rodent killer and pesticides, some of which is toxic. A loaded 12 gauge shotgun was also discovered at one of the camps, though none of the growers were arrested, Munsey said.

Authorities use helicopters to find the gardens and then drop in to remove the plants and trash. The marijuana is subsequently destroyed.

The growers bring the supplies in on their backs and leave the refuse behind after harvesting the marijuana, Munsey said. A big part of the annual operation, the state-coordinated Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, is cleaning up the mess left behind by growers.